Device for sealing wrapped packages.



W. BOROHERT.

DEVICE FOR SEALING WRAPPED PACKAGES.

APPLICATION FILED DEO.26, 1912.

Patented May 6, 1913.

M 'KW Z?" Ohm Mal UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM BORCHERT, OF ROCKFORD, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF '10WILLIAM A. MOPHERSON, OF ROCKFORD, ILLINOIS.

DEVICE FOR SEALING WRAPPED PACKAGES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 6, 1913.

. Application filed December 26, 1912. Serial No. 738,625.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM Boaonnn'r, a citizen of the United States,residing at Rockford, in the county of Winnebago and the State ofIllinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Devicesfor Sealing Wrapped Packages, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to devices for sealing wrapped packages and moreparticularly to the sealing of loaves of bread which have been wrappedin paraffin paper or paper with a like or similar coating applied to theportion of the wrapper which is to be sealed.

The object of this invention is to construct a sealing device for thispurpose which shall be simple in its construction and inexpensive tomanufacture and which shall perform its functions automatically whenwrapped packages have been passed through the device.

The further object is to provide a novel construction in which thesealing of the packages shall be performed by a heating element and thesealed portion beheld in a set position by a cooling member until theseal has become fixed.

In the accompanying drawings: Figure 1 is a plan view of the device, aportion of one of the runner plates being broken away. Fig. 2 is a sideelevation of the sealing device with a portion of the heating guardplate broken away. Fig. 3 is a vertical section on the line 33 of Fig.2. Fig. 4 is a plan section on the line 44 of Fig. 2.

The sealing device may be suitably supported in a machine forautomatically and mechanically wrapping loaves of bread or on aconvenient stand or rest where bread wrapped by hand may be quickly andconveniently passed through the sealer.

The longitudinal runner plates 1 consist of an upper and lower memberspaced apart, and the supporting brackets therefor are secured betweensaid plates.

The heating elements 5 may' be of a suit able construction, having hereshown a. common type of electric resistance heater in which the currentis supplied through the wires 6 to each of the two elements. The

heating elements 5 as shown are square and have an extended verticalflange 7 to each end thereof. To the flanges toward the forward end ofthe sealer is attached by the bolts 8, a curved mouthpiece or enteringguide-plate 9, there being a strip 10 of suitable non-heat conductivematerial placed between the plate 9 and the flange. The rear flanges ofelements 5 are connected to the side guide-plates 11 in a similarmanner, the non-conductive material serving to stop the passage of heatfrom the elements 5 to the side plates 11 which plates act as coolingelements. The guard plates 12 are secured to the plates 9.and 11 andserve to protect the operator from being burned and the heating elementsfrom being damaged. Thus a heating element and a cooling element form anindependent member and the two such members are held yieldingly inposition by the slidable plates 13 held between the upper and lowermembers of the runners 9. Two adjacent plates 13 are fastened atopposite ends to the side plates which are held yieldingly in positionby the coiled springs 14 having one end attached to each of two adjacentplates 13 and to the ends thereof that are secured to the side plates.The pins 15 by which the springs are connected to the plates, contactthe'runners and thereby limit the inward move ment of the side members,said pins being adjustable in the holes 16 so as to vary the width ofopening between the side members to suit the size of the packages beingwrapped. v

The operation of the sealing device is as follows: The heating elementsare maintained heated to a suflicient degree and loaves of bread or anyother article wrapped in paraflin paper or paper to which has beenapplied a similar coating at the sealing portions, are placed upon therunners in front of the mouth pieces 9, passed along the runners comingin contact first'with the heating elements and then with the cool sidemembers. The side members are to be adjusted to suit the width of thepackage being wrapped, and when a package is passed between the sidemembers 1t will be compressed to a slight degree therebe tween becauseof the tensional support of said side members. As the ends of thepackage that are to be sealed contact the heated elements the parafiinor like substance which the paper contains, becomes diffused, andpassing to the cool sides of the device are cooled, ,thus setting thediffused sub stance and sealing the package. The packages may be enteredone after another, each succeeding package moving the preceding packagealong. The time required for diffusing the substance is but momentarybut of course varying with the degree of temperature to which theheating elements are maintained, so that packages maybe passed throughthe device as quickly as they can be wrapped.

It will be seen that the 0 ration of the sealing device is exceeding ysimple and enables packages to be sealed very economically and quickly,thus making it a great labor saving device that maintains a highefiiciency.

I claim as my invention:

1. A device for sealing wrapped packages comprising supports carryingtwo oppositely positioned side walls having longitudinal continuousfaces forming a passage having an entrance and discharge end, and aheating member carried by each of the side walls, oppositely positioned,and at a point intermediate the entrance and discharge ends of thewalls, the heating face of each member being substantially in the planeof said side wall faces, and the outer edges of the heating membersadjacent the side walls being heat lnsulated from said side walls.

2. A device for sealing wrapped packages comprising supports carryingtwo oppositely positioned side walls, each comprising a spaced entranceand body end lying substantially in the same plane, a heating memberinterposed between each of said entrance and body portions and connectedthereto, the face of the heating member forming with the faces of itsadjacent side walls, a continuous wall, and means con necting theopposite side walls and the base for holding said walls yieldingly inposition.

3. A device for sealing wrapped packages comprising supports, twooppositely positioned side walls having longitudinal continuous facesforming a passage, the entrance end of the walls having diverging wingsections, an opening in each wall, the openings oppositely positionedand; at a point intermediate sald entrance end and the opposite end ofthe walls, a heating member positioned in each of said openings havingits heating face substantially in the same plane as that of its sidewall and forming with its side wall a continuous face, and meansconnecting the two opposite walls and the supports and adapted to holdthe walls yieldingly in position.

4. A device for sealing wrapped packages, comprising supports, twooppositely positioned side walls having longitudinal continuous facesforming a passage, the entrance end of the walls having diverging wingsections, an opening in each wall, the openings oppositely positionedand at a point intermediate said entrance end and the opposite end ofthe walls, a heating member positioned in each of said openings havingits heating face substantially in the same plane as that of its sidewall and forming with its side wall a continuous face, the heatingmembers bein secured to the side walls by heat insulating connections,and means connecting the two. opposite walls and the supports andadapted to hold the walls yieldingly in position.

5. A device for sealing wrapped packages holding the side wallsyieldingly in position.

6. A device for sealing wrapped packages comprising a support, twooppositely 'positioned side walls having longitudinal continuous facesforming a passage having an entrance and discharge end, an opening ineach side wall, oppositely positioned and at a point intermediate theentrance and discharge ends thereof, a heating member positioned in eachopening'having its heating face in a plane substantially with that ofits side wall, each side wall carrying fixedly supporting memberadjacent its two ends, said supporting members being carried by saidsupport and movable thereon transversely to said passage to move theside walls bodily, and means for holding the side walls yieldingly.together.

7. A device for sealing wrapped packages comprising two paralleldisposed runners having an upper and lower member, a sup-' port for therunners, and a side wall posisaid side walls and being held slidablebe-' In testimony whereof I have hereunto set .tween saidupper and lowermembers of the my hand in presence of two subscribing witrunners, andmeans for holding the two side nesses.

walls yieldable bodily ainst outward pres- WILLIAM BORCHERT. 5,. sure,such movement 'eing accomplished Witnesses:

through said supports slidable in the run- JOHN F. MCCANNA, Jr.,

ners. v E. D. E; N. BEHEL.

